Guide apparatus for a partition assembly machine



Jam. 27, 1970 A, o. ZELLER E AL 3,491,653

GUIDE APPARATUS FOR A PARTITION ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed March 2. 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS ALLEN D\ZELLER MARCEL o. HAWKINS JACK R. STONE BY VZIZM ATTORNEY Jan. 27,1970 LL ET AL 3,491,658

GUIDE APPARATUS FOR A PARTITION ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed March 2, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ALLEN D.ZELLER MARCEL O. HAWKINS JACK R- STONE WZLZKW ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,491,658 GUIDE APPARATUS FOR A PARTITION ASSEMBLY MACHINE Allen D. Zeller, Marcel O. Hawkins, and Jack R. Stone, Merced, Califi, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Clevepak Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 2, 1967, Ser. No. 620,031

Int. Cl. B31b l/00, 49/04 US. CI. 93-37 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A partition assembly machine consists of a hopper with a magazine and a conveyor, a feeder and a fabricator. The magazine drops partition strips singly onto the conveyor, which conveys them on edge to the feeder. The feeder is synchronized to receive the continuously moving partition strips from the conveyor and to feed them synchronously to the fabricator where transverse partition members are assembled across them. The feeder has a continuous unit and two intermittent units in succession adjustably mounted to accommodate different size strips. Each feeder unit has separate, unitary guide assemblies for supporting and guiding the partition strips.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Partitions for corrugated paper cases are extensively used to separate and protect glass jars and bottles packed in cases. These partitions are assembled in mass quantities by machines that interlock transversely oriented partition strips of corrugated board, or other appropriate materials, into the familiar orthogonal array. Sincejars and bottles come in vast varieties of sizes and shapes, partitions must be made in a broad range of dilferent sizes; and almost every change of size requires an entirely new set-up of the partition assembly machine, with attending costly down-time.

The feeder mechanism, which, in partition assembly machines, receives partition strips from a hopper conveyor and feeds them to a fabricator in synchronization with the fabricator, has been particularly troublesome in this regard. Prior to the present invention, the partition strips were laterally supported to stand on edge and to be guided through the feeder mechanism by elastic bands stretched about vertical posts spaced along the course of travel of the partition strips. To provide more precise guidance, metal bands were also bent around and extended between the posts, and metal plates had to be inserted beneath the elastic bands to provide vertical support. Obviously, the set-up procedures for such a guide apparatus required the disassembly and reassembly of numerous, separate parts. Moreover, the elastic bands broke readily and came off if slightly disturbed, as when the operator removed a partition strip from the feeder mechanism.

The present invention eliminates most of the separate parts and reduces set-up time by half an hour on an average machine. A machine embodying the present invention requires a minimum inventory of spare parts for alternate set-ups and for maintenance. Maintenance costs and down-time are thus drastically reduced by the present invention, as is the training required for the operator of a machine embodying the present invention.

The invention was created for use in conjunction with machines of the types disclosed in US. Patents Nos.

3,491,658 Patented Jan. 27, 1970 ice 2,163,923, 2,221,865, 2,656,770 and 2,984,480. Those patents disclose all or portions of semi-automatic partition assembly machines; and the Patent No. 2,656,770 discloses the feeder mechanism, a modified form of which the presently disclosed embodiment of this invention is used on. A somewhat related machine for making egg cartons'is disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,224,510; and fully automatic partition assembly machines are shown in US. Patents Nos. 2,710,565, 2,742,827 and 2,962,943, but these have different problems from those encountered with semi-automatic machines and specifically solved by the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a guiding apparatus for partition strips in a partition assembly machine; and more specifically, the invention resides in a unitary guide assembly which has a floor with two lateral support members rising above said floor and defining a passageway between them for supporting and guiding a partition strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of portions of a partition as sembly machine embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the feeder mechanism of the machine in FIG. 1 embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is, a side elevation of the feeder mechanism shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of one of the threshold guide assemblies shown in the feeder mechanism of FIGS. 2 and 3.

DESCRIPTION THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The embodiment of the invention to be described here is shown with a hopper 1, such as that disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,656,770, on the right in FIG. 1, and with a fabricator 2, such as is shown in US. Patents Nos. 2,163,- 923 and 2,221,865, on the left in FIG. 1, and a feeder mechanism 3 between them. The hopper 1 has a magazine 4, which is designed to hold several stacks (not shown) of partition strips 5, and a conveyor 6 to carry the partition strips standing on edge to the feeder mechanism 3. The magazine 4 has a mechanism (not shown) which releases partition strips 5 one at a time from the bottom of the stacks (not shown); and the partition strips 5 drop between defiectors (not shown), which orient them into edgewise attitude, on to the conveyor 6. Such a hopper 1 is completely disclosed in the above-mentioned U.S. patents, and reference may be had to those patents for further details. Suffice it to note here that the present invention is usable with machines having other types of hoppers.

The preformed partition strips 5 are the conventional strips of corrugated board, chipboard, cardboard, or other such material, divided into sections 7 by assembly slots 8. Similar transverse strips (not shown) are cut from a continuous web of material (not shown) by the fabricator 2, the final severing of each strip (not shown) from the web (not shown) occurring at the point and time of assembly transversely across the preformed partition strips 5 coming from the feeder mechanism 3. Such a fabricator 2 is completely disclosed in the above-mentioned U.S. patents, and reference may be had to those patents for further detail.

The assembly of the partition requires precise synchronization of the feeder mechanism 3 with the hopper 1 on one side and the fabricator 2 on the other. The hopper conveyor 6 delivers the preformed partition strips in continuous motion to the feeder mechanism 3, which must deliver the preformed partition strips 5 to the fabricator 2 in stepping, or intermittent, movements to allow assembly of the transverse strips (not shown) when the preformed strips 5 are instantaneously stationary. In addition, the front section 7 of each preformed partition strip 5 overlaps the rearmost section 7 of the immediately preceding preformed partition strip 5 at the point of assembly so that each beat of the fabricator is productive. When a failure of synchronization or other malfunction does occur, the operator must remove the errant partition strips 5 from the feeder mechanism 3 and the fabricator 2 before production can be resumed.

In this embodiment, the essence of the invention resides in the feeder mechanism 3 which has three adjustable feeder units 9, and 11. The feeder unit 9, which is located adjacent the end of the hopper conveyor 6, is a constant speed feeder unit 9 that is synchronized with the hopper conveyor 6 to operate at a proportional speed, in the manner disclosed in the above-mentioned U.S. patents. The other two feeder units 10 and 11 are intermittent feeder units, which are synchronized with the fabricator 2 to advance partition strips 5 in a stepping or intermittent motion, as is also disclosed in the abovementioned US. patents.

The constant speed feeder unit 9 has a cross bar 12, the ends of which are supported in sliding pedestals 13 and 14, which respectively engage tracks 15 and 16 on top of beams 17 on each side of the feeder mechanism 3. Down the center of each of the tracks 15 and 16 are gear racks 18 and 19, respectively. Each of the pedestals 13 and 14 houses a rotatable pinion (not shown) engaging the gear racks 18 and 19, respectively, for adjusting the longitudinal position of the constant speed feeder unit 9. Five feeder stations 20 are adjustably mounted on the cross bar 12 so that each may be laterally moved along the cross bar 12. A pair of rotary drive members 21 is located in each of the four stations 20. Each member in each pair of drive members '21 has a shaft 22 with an enlarged knurled head 23 on top of it. The shafts 22 of each pair of drive members 21 are biased toward each other so that the pairs of knurled heads 23 will drivingly engage the partition strips 5 as they pass between them. The shafts 22 are thus biased and driven at a constant speed by a mechanism described in the above-mentioned U.S. patents.

Behind the pairs of rotary drive members 21, a threshold guide assembly 24 is mounted on each of the feeder stations 20. One of the threshold guide assemblies 24 is shown in perspective in FIG. 4, where it can be seen that it is made up of a sheet metal floor 25 and a pair of vertical sheet metal lateral support panels 26 and 27 fastenedto the floor 25. Each of the lateral support panels 26 and 27 has a horizontal tab 28 and 29, respectiveiy, which projects outwardly from the front of its bottom edge, and which is spot welded to the floor 25 to fasten the respective lateral support panels 26 and 27 to the floor 25. A pair of mounting holes 30 are bored through the floor 25 and the tabs 28 and 29, respectively, and so that a pair of mounting posts 31 can be inserted therethrough to anchor the assembly 24 in position.

In each of the stations 20 in front of the rotary drive members 21, a discharge guide assembly 32 is mounted and it is likewise secured position by mounting posts 31. Each of the discharge guide assemblies 32 is made up of a sheet metal floor 33 and a pair of sheet metal lateral support panels 34 and 35, each of which has an outwardly projecting horizontal tab 36 and 37, respectively, on the rearward end of its bottom edge that is spot Welded to the floor 33. Since the lateral support panels 34 and project beyond both the front and rear edges of the floor 33, mounting holes 38 to receive the mounting posts 31 are bored through the rearward extending tabs 36 and 37. A sheet metal bracket 39 is welded to the external lateral surface of each of the iateral support panels 34 and 35 of the discharge guide assemblies 32 to receive and support metal guide strips 40, where they are desired, to guide the partition strip 5 into the first intermittent feeder unit 10.

Each of the feeder stations 20 has a hearing and gear housing 41 which is slidably mounted on the cross bar 12 and held in place by a set screw. The bearing and gear housings 41 contain the driving linkages to the rotary drive members 21, as is shown in the above-mentioned US. patents, and they support the guide assemblies 24 and 32 and receive the mounting posts 31 in tapped holes (not shown).

Comparing the structures of the threshold guide assemblies 24 and .the discharge guide assemblies 32, it will be seen that the lateral support panels 26 and 27 of the threshold guide assemblies 24 are substantially flat sheet metal panels mounted at an angle to each other. Thus, the lateral support panels 26 and 27 of the threshold guide assemblies 24 diverge in a rearwardly direction to present a broad vestibule 42 for receiving partition strips 5 entering from the hopper conveyor 6. The front ends of the lateral support panels 26 and 27 of each of the threshold guide assemblies 24 are bent outwardly partly around the mounting posts 31 so as to present a flared outlet 43 for the partition strips 5. At the front end of the lateral support panels 26 and 27 adjacent the guide posts 31, the lateral support panels 26 and 27 define a comparatively narrow passageway 44 for guiding the partition strips 5 forwardly between the knurled heads 23 of the pairs of rotary driving members 21. By contrast, the sheet metal panels forming the lateral supports 34 and 35 of the discharge guide assemblies 32 define a narrow, elongated corridor 45 between them which tapers slightly toward the front as the panels 34 and 35 converge at a slight angle. Also, the lateral support paneis 34 and 35 of the discharge guide assemblies 32 are ben outwardly at the rearward ends partly around the mounting posts 31 to present a flared entrance 46 to the narrow corridor 45.

The first intermittent speed feed unit 10 is, to outward appearances, structurally the same as the constant speed feed unit 9 just described. It has a cross bar 47 that is end supported in pedestals 48 and 49 slidably mounted on the tracks 15 and 16 and which contain pinions (not shown) engaging the racks 18 and 19 for adjusting the feed unit 10 longitudinally. There are four stations 50 adjustably mounted on the cross bar 47, and each of the stations 50 is in alignment with one of the stations 20 of the constant speed feeder unit 9. Each of the stations 50 has a bearing and gear housing 51 which is slidably mounted on the cross bar 47 and locked in position by a set screw 52. A pair of rotary drive members 53 projects upwardly from the bearing and gear housing 51 of each of the stations 50, and each individual drive member has a knurled head 54 on top of a shaft 55 which is intermittently rotated by the mechanism, such as those disclosed in the above-mentioned US. patents. The knurled heads 54 in each pair of rotary drive members 53 are biased against each other to engage partition strips 5 passing therebetween.

Each of the stations 50 in the first intermittent feed unit 10 has a threshold guide assembly 57 and a discharge guide assembly 58 mounted fore and aft of the respective pairs of rotary drive members 53. Since these threshold guide assemblies 57 and discharge guide assemblies 58 in the first intermittent feed unit 10 may be of the same construction as the threshold guide assemblies 24 and discharge guide assemblies 32 of the constant feed unit 9 described in detail above, no further description is necessary here, save to note that the same reference numerals are used to designate identical structural features in all of the guide assemblies 24, 57 and 32, 58. In addition, it should be pointed out that the metal brackets 39 and guide strips 4i) on the lateral supports 34 and 35 in the discharge guide assemblies 32 of the constant feed unit 9 are omitted in the first intermittent feed unit 10.

The second intermittent feed unit 11 is of the same construction and structure as the first intermittent feed unit 10, except that the second intermittent feed unit 11 does not have any discharge guide assemblies such as the discharge guide assemblies 58 in the first intermittent feed unit 10. A cross bar 59 is supported on its ends by pedestals 60 and 61, which are slidably mounted on the tracks 15 and 16 and which contain pinions (not shown) engaging the racks 18 and 19 for longitudinally adjusting the feed unit 11. The cross bar 59 supports four stations 62. Each of the stations 62 has a bearing and gear housing 63 which is slidably mounted on the cross bar 59 and locked in place by a set screw 64. A pair of rotary drive members 65 projects upwardly from the bearing and gear housing 63 of each of the stations 62, and each drive member 65 has a knurled head 66 mounted on a shaft 67 which is intermittently rotated by a mechanism such as those described in the above-mentioned US. patents. The knurled heads 66 of the pairs of rotary drive members 65 are biased together to engage partition strips 5 passing therebetween. Behind the pairs of rotary drive members 65 on each of the stations 62 is a threshold guide assembly 68, which is of the same structure as the threshold guide assemblies 57 and 24 described above in connection with the first intermittent feed unit and the constant speed feed unit 9, respectively. In front of each pair of rotary drive members 65 are only the mounting posts 31 projecting upwardly from the top of the bearing and gear housing 63, and these provide lateral support for the partition strips 5 as they enter the fabricator 2.

The partition strips 5 are fed from the hopper magazine 4 by the hopper conveyor 6 standing on edge so as to enter the vestibule 42 between the diverging lateral supports 34 and 35 of the threshold guide assemblies 24 in the constant speed feed unit 9. When the partition strips 5 reach the pairs of rotary drive members 21, they are propelled forwardly through the narrow, elongated corridors 45 of the discharge guide assemblies 32 and between guide strips 40, if any are used, to the aligned threshold guide assemblies 57 of the first intermittent feed unit 10. In the threshold guide assemblies 57 of the first intermittent feed unit 10, the first sections 7 of the partition strips 5 overlap the last sections 7 of the preceding set of partition strips 5 and pass between the intermittently rotating pairs of rotary drive members 53 which propel them together through the narrow, tapered corridors 45 of the discharge guide assemblies 58 of the first intermittent feed unit 10 and into the broad vestibules 42 of the threshold guide assemblies 68 of the second intermittent feed unit 11. To ensure the overlap of the sections 7 of the partitions 5, the center of the narrow corridor 45 in the constant feed unit 9 is laterally displaced a little from the center of the narrow passages 44 in the intermittent feed unit 10. Then the partition strips 5 are engaged by the pairs of intermittently rotating drive members 65 of the second intermittent feed unit 11 and propelled in step-by-step movements into the fabricator 2, which inserts a transverse strip in each one of the slots 8 of the preformed partition strips 5 to complete the orthogonal array of partition strips referred to as a partition.

If it becomes necessary for the operator to remove partition strips 5 from the feeder mechanism 3, it is obvious that he can easily do so without disturbing the guide apparatus. Also, it is evident that the guide apparatus of the present invention can be adjusted easily and quickly with little or no handling of parts. When necessary to accommodate different size partition strips 5, the guide assemblies 24, 32, 57, 58 and 68 can be easily and quickly changed with a minimum number of operations. The guide assemblies 24, 32, 57, 58 and 68 can also be made to be highly durable.

Those skilled in the art will immediately perceive numerous changes, variations and modifications that can be made in the embodiment disclosed here while nevertheless practicing the present invention. Hence, this invention is neither defined nor limited by the foregoing description, but rather is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims that follow.

We claim:

1. A guide apparatus for partition strips in a partition assembly machine comprising a station having a unitary threshold guide apparatus for guiding partition strips moving on edge toward a fabricator mechanism, said unitary threshold guide apparatus including a floor for vertically supporting said partition strips and a pair of spaced-apart lateral supports extending upward from said floor and diverging from one another rearwardly to define a broad vestibule for receiving said partition strips and a comparatively narrow passageway through which said partition strips exit, a driving member positioned on said station in front of said comparatively narrow passageway of said unitary threshold guide assembly to engage said partition strips exiting from said unitary threshold guide assembly and to propel said partition strips, said station including a unitary discharge guide assembly having a floor for vertically supporting said partition stri s and a pair of lateral supports defining a narrow elongated corridor between them above said floor, said discharge guide assembly being mounted in front of said driving member and having its corridor in substantial alignment with said comparatively narrow passageway of said unitary threshold guide assembly, said fioor being a piece of sheet metal, said lateral supports being sheet metal panels fastened to said floor to project perpendicularly from said floor, having rearward facing ends bent outwardly to present a' flared breech for receiving said partition strips and converging slightly from said breech forwardly, said unitary discharge guide assembly having mounting holes therethrough, and brackets afiixed to outside surfaces of said lateral supports to receive and support forwardly extending guide strips, in combination with a partition assembly machine comprising a hopper mechanism having a magazine for holding a supply of partition strips and individually releasing said partition strips from said supply, and a conveyor for receiving said partition strips from said magazine and forwardly conveying said partition strips on edge: a feeder mechanism in front of said conveyor for receiving said partition strips from said conveyor and advancing said partition strips in predetermined timed sequence; and a fabricator synchronized with said feeder mechanism to receive said partition strips from said feeder mechanism and to assemble said partition strips with transverse partition strips; said feeder mechanism including a plurality of said stations adjustably mounted side by side on an adjustable support member to form an adjustable feed unit, there being a plurality of said feed units in tandem relation between said hopper mechanism and said fabricator.

2. A partition assembly machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

said stations in at least two adjacent feeder units being so positioned that said narrow corridor of each of said unitary discharge guide assemblies in the rearmost of said two feeder units has its center laterally displaced from the center of the narrow passageway of the unitary threshold guide assembly aligned with it in the station of the other feed unit. 3. A partition assembly machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein:

at least one of said feed units contains a plurality of stations each having a unitary threshold guide assembly with a floor and a pair of rearwardly diverging lateral supports defining a broad vestibule for receiving partition strips and a comparatively narrow forward passage, and a driving member for engaging and intermittently propelling said partition strips is positioned in front of said narrow forward passage of said threshold guide assembly;

7 8 said one feeder unit being adjust-ably positioned im- 2,656,770 10/1953 Schroeder. mediately behind said fabricator. 2,767,625 10/1956 Schroeder.

- 3,264,955 8/1966 Soennichsen 9337 Ref renc s Cit 3,386,348 6/1968 Soennic'hsen.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 WAYNE A. MORSE, JR., Primary Examiner 2,163,923 6/1939 Vail 9337 2,221,865 11/1940 Dauber 27154 US. Cl. X.R.

2,224,510 12/1940 Coyle 93-37 938, 35, 36 

